BACILLUS CHAUVEI. 533 



inoculation is swollen and painful, and drops of bloody 

 serum may sometimes be seen exuding from it. At 

 autopsy the subcutaneous cellular tissues and under- 

 lying muscles present a condition of emphysema and 

 extreme oedema. The cedematous fluid is often blood- 

 stained and the muscles are of a blackish or blackish- 

 brown color. The lymphatic glands are markedly 

 hypersemic. The internal viscera present but little 

 alteration visible to the naked eye. In the blood- 

 stained serous fluid about the point of inoculation short 

 bacilli are present in large numbers. These often pre- 

 sent slight swellings at the middle or near the end. 

 They are not seen as threads, but lie singly in the 

 tissues. Occasionally two will be seen joined end to 

 end. If the autopsy be made immediately after death, 

 these organisms may not be detected in the internal 

 organs ; but if not made until after a few hours, they 

 will be found there also. In recent autopsies only vege- 

 tative forms of the organism may be found ; but later 

 (in from twenty to twenty-four hours) spore-bearing rods 

 may be detected. (How does this compare with bacte- 

 rium anthracis?) By successive inoculations of suscepti- 

 ble animals with serous fluid from the site of inoculation 

 of the dead animal the disease may be reproduced. 



Cattle, sheep, goats, guinea-pigs, and mice are sus- 

 ceptible to infection with this organism, and present the 

 conditions above described ; whereas horses, asses, and 

 white rats present only local swelling at the site of inoc- 

 ulation. Swine, dogs, cats, rabbits, ducks, chickens, and 

 pigeons are, as a rule, naturally immune from the disease. 



Though closely simulating the bacillus of malignant 

 cedema in many of its peculiarities, this organism can, 

 nevertheless, be readily distinguished from it. It is 



